ARA-290 10 mg

ARA-290 10 mg research-grade lyophilized peptide powder in a glass vial. Studied in innate repair receptor (IRR) signaling, neuroprotection, anti-inflammatory pathways and tissue-protective research models.

Research Overview

ARA-290 (Cibinetide) is an 11-amino-acid peptide engineered from erythropoietin (EPO) that selectively targets the innate repair receptor (IRR) rather than the classical erythropoietin receptor. In laboratory settings it is used to explore tissue-protective, neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory signaling pathways in diverse experimental models.

Primary Research Areas

• Innate Repair Receptor (IRR) Signaling: Used in models probing IRR activation, downstream tissue-protective cascades and cell-survival pathways [8].
• Neuroprotection & Neuropathy Models: Studied in experimental systems focused on small-fiber neuropathy, nerve injury, neuroinflammation and neural repair signaling [2,3].
• Anti-inflammatory & Tissue-Protective Pathways: Frequently used to investigate cytokine modulation, inflammatory signaling and tissue-protection frameworks under metabolic or ischemic stress [7,8].
• Cytoprotection & Cellular Stress Response: Included in research on cytoprotective mechanisms, organ-protection models and recovery of cells exposed to oxidative or metabolic challenge [6].
• Blood sugar in type 2 diabetes: adults with type 2 diabetes and painful neuropathy injected 4 mg a day for 28 days: HbA1c and blood lipids improved across the whole 56 days, and the neuropathic symptom score fell significantly against placebo. It is a small phase 2 study, and the blood-sugar part has never been repeated [1].
• Walking distance in sarcoidosis: in a placebo-controlled trial, 28 days of daily injections in people with sarcoidosis-related small-fibre loss improved symptoms and increased how far they could walk in six minutes, alongside changes in nerve-fibre density. Pain improved in the placebo group too, which is why nerve-fibre counts rather than pain were the endpoint [2,3].
• Bone density: one month of cibinetide raised cortical bone mineral density by about 5.8% and trabecular density by about 5.2% in female mice, and cut bone-resorbing cell precursors by 42.8% when given alongside erythropoietin. That is the opposite of what erythropoietin alone does to bone, in mice with no fracture or strength measurement [5].
• Wounds that heal badly in diabetes: genetically diabetic mice given 30 µg/kg a day after a skin incision re-covered the wound surface faster, grew more new blood vessels and ended with stronger scar tissue than untreated diabetic mice, with less oxidative damage inside the wound. One wound model, mice, daily injection [6].
• Frailty and the ageing heart: rats treated from 18 months of age for 15 months avoided the age-related rise in blood pressure, kept a higher pumping fraction of the left ventricle, held their body weight and scored lower on a frailty index at 33 months. It is the longest experiment on this peptide, and still rats [7].
• Not the same thing as EPO: it is cut from erythropoietin but binds only the tissue-protection receptor pair, not the one that drives red-cell production. The thicker blood and clot risk of EPO is not part of how it works. A 12-week course of 4 mg a day brought no serious adverse events and no antibodies, in nine patients [4,5].

References

1. Brines M, Dunne AN, van Velzen M, et al. ARA 290, a nonerythropoietic peptide engineered from erythropoietin, improves metabolic control and neuropathic symptoms in patients with type 2 diabetes. Mol Med. 2015;20(1):658-66. PMID 25387363. doi:10.2119/molmed.2014.00215
2. Dahan A, Dunne A, Swartjes M, et al. ARA 290 improves symptoms in patients with sarcoidosis-associated small nerve fiber loss and increases corneal nerve fiber density. Mol Med. 2013;19(1):334-45. PMID 24136731. doi:10.2119/molmed.2013.00122
3. Culver DA, Dahan A, Bajorunas D, et al. Cibinetide Improves Corneal Nerve Fiber Abundance in Patients With Sarcoidosis-Associated Small Nerve Fiber Loss and Neuropathic Pain. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2017;58(6):BIO52-BIO60. PMID 28475703. doi:10.1167/iovs.16-21291
4. Lois N, Gardner E, McFarland M, et al. A Phase 2 Clinical Trial on the Use of Cibinetide for the Treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema. J Clin Med. 2020;9(7). PMID 32674280. doi:10.3390/jcm9072225
5. Awida Z, Bachar A, Saed H, et al. The Non-Erythropoietic EPO Analogue Cibinetide Inhibits Osteoclastogenesis In Vitro and Increases Bone Mineral Density in Mice. Int J Mol Sci. 2021;23(1). PMID 35008482. doi:10.3390/ijms23010055
6. Bitto A, Irrera N, Pizzino G, et al. Activation of the EPOR-β common receptor complex by cibinetide ameliorates impaired wound healing in mice with genetic diabetes. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis. 2018;1864(2):632-639. PMID 29223734. doi:10.1016/j.bbadis.2017.12.006
7. Winicki NM, Nanavati AP, Morrell CH, et al. A small erythropoietin derived non-hematopoietic peptide reduces cardiac inflammation, attenuates age associated declines in heart function and prolongs healthspan. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022;9:1096887. PMID 36741836. doi:10.3389/fcvm.2022.1096887
8. Nairz M, Haschka D, Dichtl S, et al. Cibinetide dampens innate immune cell functions thus ameliorating the course of experimental colitis. Sci Rep. 2017;7(1):13012. PMID 29026145. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-13046-3